This invention relates to a structural hanger for attaching a supported wood structure to a wood, masonry or steel supporting structure.
In wood frame buildings, a common problem is the attachment of horizontal wood members to either vertical masonry walls or headers which are either wood or steel beams. Since the horizontal wood members come in many widths and heights, if a single piece metal hanger is used, it requires the manufacturer to make a great number of different hangers and for the distribution chain to stock all of these different size hangers. Further, the hanger should have different size top flange elements depending upon whether the hanger is bearing upon wood, steel or masonry surfaces.
One solution which is presently being used is to manufacture the hanger from two pieces; viz., a top flange element and a stirrup element. The manufacturer then joins the two elements by welding and usually paints the completed hanger to guard against rusting. This is an expensive and labor intensive process.
As a specific example, a standard top flange hanger as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,942 is formed of two pieces; a U-shaped stirrup welded to an L-shaped top flange. The problem with the '942 hanger is the fact that there are hundreds of combinations of seat widths, stirrup heights, stirrup thickness, top flange widths, and top flange thickness. It is impractical for the distributor and even the manufacturer to stock all of the different combinations of hangers shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,942 in assembled form. As a practical matter, only a few common sizes are stocked, and all of the other orders are made up from pre-made top flange elements and stirrup elements, welded, painted and then shipped to the customer. This process results in costly delays and lost business.